Former Canadiens GM Bob Gainey had a twinkling of it seven years ago, picking both young defencemen in the NHL entry draft.

Took the American-born McDonagh in the first round, 12th overall; took Toronto-born Subban in the second round, 43rd overall. And in between selected Max Pacioretty, currently leading the Habs with two game-winning goals in the post-season. What a judicious haul.

Hate to remind what ex-Leaf general manager John Ferguson Jr. did for the Leafs back in 2007: gave up Toronto’s first- and second-round picks to acquire goalie Vesa Toskala and centre Mark Bell (35 games in blue and white before sinking out of NHL sight).

Yet Gainey was not entirely prescient about McDonagh’s evolving talents, inexplicably, unforgivably, packaging him in a seven-player trade two years later for the declining talents of Scott Gomez. Thus McDonagh became a New York Ranger, eventual Olympian, rearguard stud and team MVP as voted by his mates.

Ancient history, he says with a shrug of his youthful Montreal chattel days, never once dressing for the parent club. “I’m not thinking about it anymore. When you’re drafted, yeah, there’s moments when you’re dreaming about what that would be like. But when I got traded to the Rangers, it’s all about them now.”

Habs fans can only ponder what might have been and Montreal journalists never miss an opportunity to scratch at McDonagh’s feelings about it. “I’m sure it will continue,” he said with a wry smile Sunday. “And you guys will probably continue to hear the same things from me.”

In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final, the 24-year-old (for another month) tied Brian Leetch by amassing four points in a playoff game, a team record for a D-man dating back to Game 4 of the 1994 Stanley Cup final. McDonagh racked up a goal and three assists whilst in the 7-2 whupping while neutralizing Montreal’s most dangerous assets.

Earning a mention in hockey annals dispatches with the venerable Leetch is the stuff for later savouring. “That’ll be something to think about down the road. I was just happy for the win. It could have been anyone, the way we were winning one-on-one battles, allowing us to hang on to the pucks, seeing plays. I’m honoured, for sure, but I’m more worried about trying to win this series.”

His goal — first of three power-play tallies in a third-period row for the Blueshirts — was a one-timer from the slot graphically described by Ben Shpigel in the New York Times as travelling so fast “the net should have had an exit wound.” Certainly McDonagh drew buckets of blood from the Habs on Saturday afternoon, all-in on a quartet of scoring plays.

His own more modest account, upon reviewing the goal Sunday: “It bounced, kind of coming right across the slot while I was waiting. We talk about when there’s a battle on the boards and you’re on the far side, try to find some open ice. The puck might find you or you can rim it around. So I was just fortunate. The guys won a battle and the puck found me.”

McDonagh casts himself as almost an accidental scorer, which is far from the case. (Fourteen on the season, with 29 assists, logging hefty ice time, an average of 24.49 minutes.) His Subban-ian puck command was most evident in Game 1 on a no-look pass pounced upon by Mats Zuccarello and the fake shot pass to Martin St. Louis that set up Derek Stepan in the crease: Goals No. 2 and 6 respectively.

Earlier in the post-season, during the series against Philadelphia and through to Game 3 with Pittsburgh — 10 playoff games without a point — McDonagh had been atypically quiet as a blue-line force, enough so that Alain Vigneault called him out, mildly, publicly. There were concerns the shoulder injury that had put McDonagh on the shelf for the final five games of the regular season was still aggravating. Since then, he’s responded to the coach’s challenge. “You start thinking too much, trying to do too much out there, you find yourself in trouble. It’s just a matter of re-focusing, focusing on simple plays, getting out of my zone quicker and simpler and smoother. Those kinds of things lead to confidence over time. You’ve definitely got to rely on your teammates to help you in situations and they’ve been excellent.”

Still, this is a team that really can’t boast of superstar standouts, with the obvious exception of netminder Henrik Lundqvist. Most telling is that seven Rangers had a goal each in Game 1. That’s a balanced attack. But McDonagh was very much a common denominator, on both offence and defence, on the PP and the PK.

The vaunted Montreal speed was smothered and the transitional deftness repelled by Rangers D-men putting the puck behind Habs defenders, forcing them to turn and skate and tire while coping with New York’s fierce forecheck.

Speed kills, for the Manhattanites too.

“That’s a big strength of ours,” said McDonagh. “It’s a matter of allowing us to play to our strengths, being good with the puck, making smart decisions when we have it, and not spending a lot of time in our zone so that we have good energy to go on the attack. A lot of things need to happen first, before we can utilize our strength of speed and forecheck and creativity.”

They clearly caught the Canadiens in an emotional hangover following their seven-game bender against Boston. That’s not a dynamic the Rangers expect will be repeated Monday night at the Bell Centre, regardless of who’s between the Montreal pipes.

“We’re really focusing on not falling into the trap of thinking it’s going to happen again,” said McDonagh. “We know this team is real hungry, real skilled and has a lot of talent, so we’ve got to be prepared to play the same way.”

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